AKIYA AIR EXHIBITION
Exploring Yunotsu through Artists’ Eyes
As part of MONO JAPAN Fair 2026’s Cultural Programme, this exhibition introduces artworks created through AKIYA AIR in Yunotsu, Shimane Prefecture, Japan.
Explore the artworks reflecting the residents’ engagement with local materials, rural culture, and the unique character of Yunotsu’s vacant houses.
“We are bringing Yunotsu to Rotterdam!”
2024 & 2025 Final Exhibitions in Yunotsu. Photos by MUJUN
Each AKIYA AIR residency culminates in a local exhibition in Yunotsu, celebrating creative achievements and the connections forged with the community.
Through these delicate and thoughtful works, visitors are invited to experience the spirit of Yunotsu—its cultural continuity, community warmth, and the potential of vacant houses reimagined as sites of collaboration and inspiration.
With a strong commitment to further facilitating dialogue between the Netherlands and Yunotsu, this exhibition at the MONO JAPAN Fair offers a glimpse into the artworks and stories emerging from the 2024 and 2025 residencies.
Exhibitors & Works |
Exhibitors & Works |
2024 Residents
Maan Limburg & Matilde Patuelli
The 2024 edition of AKIYA AIR marked an inspiring beginning for this programme in Yunotsu, demonstrating the transformative power of art to bridge cultures, generations, and lifestyles.
Maan Limburg
Born in Utrecht in 1988, Maan is an artist with a background in photography and journalism. Her body of work spans photography, text, video, prints on paper and fabric, books, and multimedia exhibitions.
During the residency, Maan focused on the subtle beauty of daily life in Yunotsu, highlighting details often overlooked by residents themselves. Her work sparked meaningful dialogue within the community, with many residents expressing a renewed appreciation for the richness of everyday surroundings.
Maan’s Exhibiting Works
Maan presents the “Mura no Kokoro” series developed during her residency in this exhibition.
“Welcome to this visual love letter to Yunotsu, a small village in Shimane, Japan.
During a ten week residency Limburg set out to capture the daily magic of this Japanese town. She wanted to find out what makes it so different from other places in- and outside of Shimane. The historically rich province faces big rural exodus and seems to be a mostly forgotten part of Japan. But Yunotsu attracts young creatives and enthusiasts.
Why is that?
Its name, Yunotsu, means Hotspring-Harbour and it is most famous for its very old and healing Onsen (bathhouses). It also used to be the port for most of Japan's silver trade, and Shimane is a place where a lot of the Shinto folklore originates from. While the history of the place is beautiful, Limburg found a lot more to the town than just its past.”
Curious about her creative process? Explore the series website to delve deeper into her work behind the scenes.
Series Work: Mura no Kokoro
Maan Limburg, 2024
Jado shi washi paper / Sekishu washi
Photo by Maan Limburg
Matilde Patuelli
Mat is a social designer, artist, and researcher driven by curiosity and a fascination for the unfamiliar. Her practice explores the ambiguous spaces where realities blur and emotional tensions surface. Through visualization, embodiment, and participatory methods, she investigates how communication can foster empathy and dissolve misunderstandings. Drawn to magic, stories, games, creatures, and the small wonders of daily life, Mat brings a playful yet thoughtful lens to every project.
During her residency in Yunotsu, Mat responded to the town’s layered history and landscape by crafting poetic, interactive interventions. Her installations remain in place, continuing to engage locals and visitors alike.
Mat’s Exhibiting Works
Mat collaborated with Kamedani, a local Kawara tile maker, to create sculptural tiles inspired by regional myths and geological motifs. These works became part of “Fables of Water and Stone”, a geocaching art experience in which the tiles were hidden throughout Yunotsu for discovery. The project transformed public spaces into narrative playgrounds, encouraging exploration and interaction.
In this exhibition, Matilde presents six small-scale tiles from the series, brought back from Yunotsu. Larger tiles remain hidden in the town, inviting ongoing discovery. Through these six tiles, she brings a fragment of Yunotsu’s rich history, landscape, and stories to the space.
Series Work: Fables of Water and Stone
Matilde Patuelli, 2024
Local clay and Kimachi stone
Photos by Maan Limburg
2025 Residents
Anne Fehres & Luke Conroy, Gemma Wilson
Just completed their residency journey, Anne Fehres, Luke Conroy, and Gemma Wilson engaged deeply with the region through its community networks, local artisans, and the rhythms of daily life. This exhibition offers visitors a unique opportunity to encounter the residents’ newly created works, revealing the innovative outcomes of their immersive practices.
Anne Fehres & Luke Conroy
Anne Fehres (Netherlands) and Luke Conroy (Australia) are an interdisciplinary artist duo exploring sociocultural issues such as identity, nationalism, climate change, digital culture, and decolonization. Working at the intersection of physical and virtual realities, they use collage techniques to disrupt, merge, and reframe images, sounds, and narratives, reflecting the fragmented nature of digital culture.
Their residency in Yunotsu focused on engaging with locals and craftspeople through workshops and interviews, exploring Yunotsu’s architecture, materials, and daily life.
Aligned with AKIYA AIR’s values of cultural revitalisation and co-creation, their work seeks to create a lasting visual narrative celebrating the Iwami region’s unique spirit.
Anne & Luke’s Exhibiting Works
During their residency, Anne & Luke developed “News From Home – Yunotsu”, which became three free-standing photomontage works (each 150 × 100 cm) created from over 3,000 photographs and hours of video captured in Yunotsu and the wider Iwami region.
Their process begins with careful documentary observation, focusing on architecture, landscapes, rituals, workspaces, and everyday life. Through photomontage, these materials are reassembled into dense, layered compositions that move beyond linear documentation into imaginative and surreal territory.
In this exhibition, instead of the photomontage works, they present the video documentation “News From Home – Yunotsu: Video Documentation”.
This video translates the layered, immersive qualities of their photomontages into a dynamic medium, inviting viewers to experience the interplay of architecture, ritual, and everyday life in Yunotsu through time and motion.
Curious about their creative process?
Explore News From Home’s Instagram to delve deeper into their journey!
Photos by MUJUN
News From Home – Yunotsu: Video Documentation
Anne Fehres & Luke Conroy, 2025
4K Digital Video (15’39”)
Photo by MUJUN
Gemma Wilson
Gemma Wilson is an artist and printmaker whose work draws on mythological themes to explore contemporary social and political issues. Influenced by European and Japanese printmaking traditions, she is focusing on woodblock prints that retell the myth of Susanoo (須佐之男命) and the Yamata-no-Orochi (八岐大蛇).
Inspired by Yunotsu’s Iwami Kagura ritual performance, Gemma translates this living mythology into visual art, blending traditional techniques with her own distinctive expression. During her residency, she also engaged with a local Iwami washi artisan, gaining insight into the craft’s intricate techniques and creative possibilities.
Photos by MUJUN
Gemma’s Exhibiting Works
During her residency in Yunotsu, Gemma explored the mythology of the Kojiki, Shinto traditions, and the region’s historical connection to local myths, including Susanoo’s defeat of the eight-headed serpent and Amaterasu’s ties to silk cultivation.
Her work draws on these narratives, combining modern and traditional elements, European and Japanese influences, and reflections on natural and social concerns. She focused particularly on the striking masks of Iwami Kagura, observing performances and visiting local artisans’ workshops. This included:
Sekishu washi workshops, where she learned about the strong, flexible handmade paper used in masks and costumes.
Mask makers, where she studied traditional designs, characters, and technical processes.
Gemma’s series captures these insights through woodblock prints, along with sketches and process photographs. She also created a mural on a charred wooden guesthouse wall, engaging with the local community and experimenting with geometric shapes and traditional materials. In this exhibition, Gemma presents a woodblock print from her Masked Character Series, as well as sketches and process photos documenting her creative journey.
Series Work: Masked Character Series
Gemma Wilson, 2025
Woodblock print, sketches, and process photographs
